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Checking up on the word woke, because of the offence its use ‘as a pejorative’ seems to cause, it has evidently become a codeword in the new American tribal society that defines a person’s ideology.
It has evolved a long way from its meaning in the old Leadbelly song "Scottsboro Boys", which tells the story of nine black teenagers accused of raping two white women. He says: "I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there – best stay woke, keep their eyes open."
It has become a word associated with the MAGA conservative wing in the USA, used as an insult towards liberals.
An outsider like me walks into a minefield; these sorts of words have acquired a particular meaning in America, that is not properly understood by people who live elsewhere, and in less polarized societies.
For myself only, I have come around to using the word woke in the sense that British journalist Steven Poole says is used to mock "over-righteous liberalism". To me "woke – like its cousin cancelled – bespeaks political correctness gone awry"*
Without wishing to cause offence to anyone, I am unapologetic about what I think the woke movement has in reality become in the first quarter of the 21st century.
But it is just my own opinion. It is obviously open to discussion. I never deliberately set out to offend anyone.
Extracts below from the wiki article:
Woke (/ˈwoʊk/ WOHK) is an English adjective meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination" that originated in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexism, and has also been used as shorthand for American Left ideas involving identity politics and social justice, such as the notion of white privilege and slavery reparations for African Americans.
The phrase stay woke had emerged in AAVE by the 1930s, in some contexts referring to an awareness of the social and political issues affecting African Americans. The phrase was uttered in a recording by Lead Belly and later by Erykah Badu. Following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, the phrase was popularised by Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists seeking to raise awareness about police shootings of African Americans. After seeing use on Black Twitter, the term woke became an Internet meme and was increasingly used by white people, often to signal their support for BLM, which some commentators have criticised as cultural appropriation. Mainly associated with the millennial generation, the term spread internationally and was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017.
The terms woke capitalism and woke-washing have arisen to describe companies who signal support for progressive causes as a substitute for genuine reform. By 2020, parts of the political center and right wing in several Western countries were using the term woke, often in an ironic way, as an insult for various progressive or leftist movements and ideologies perceived as overzealous, performative, or insincere. In turn, some commentators came to consider it an offensive term with negative associations to those who promote political ideas involving identity and race. By 2021, woke had become used almost exclusively as a pejorative, with most prominent usages of the word taking place in a disparaging context.
… Broadening usage
While there is no single agreed-upon definition of woke, it came to be largely associated with ideas that involve identity and race and which are promoted by progressives, such as the notion of white privilege or slavery reparations for African Americans. Vox's Aja Romano writes that woke evolved into a "single-word summation of leftist political ideology, centered on social justice politics and critical race theory".
… The term increasingly came to be identified with members of the millennial generation. In May 2016, MTV News identified woke as being among ten words teenagers "should know in 2016". The American Dialect Society voted woke the slang word of the year in 2017. In the same year, the term was included as an entry in Oxford English Dictionary.
… Journalist Amanda Hess says social media accelerated the word's cultural appropriation, writing, "The conundrum is built in. When white people aspire to get points for consciousness, they walk right into the cross hairs between allyship and appropriation." Hess calls woke "a back-pat from the left, a way of affirming the sensitive".
… While the term woke initially pertained to issues of racial prejudice and discrimination impacting African Americans, it was appropriated by other activist groups with different causes. Abas Mirzaei, a senior lecturer in branding at Macquarie University says that the term "has been cynically applied to everything from soft drink to razors".
…Among American conservatives, woke has come to be used primarily as an insult. In this pejorative sense, woke means "following an intolerant and moralising ideology.” British journalist Steven Poole comments that the term is used to mock "over-righteous liberalism". Romano says that on the American right, "'woke' – like its cousin 'canceled' – bespeaks 'political correctness' gone awry"*
Opponents of progressive social movements often use the term mockingly or sarcastically, implying that "wokeness" is an insincere form of performative activism. Such critics often believe that movements such as Black Lives Matter exaggerate the extent of social problems. Linguist and social critic John McWhorter argues that the history of woke is similar to that of politically correct, another term once used self-descriptively by the left which was appropriated by the right as an insult, in a process similar to the euphemism treadmill.
Read full article: Wiki Woke
(I apologise again for offence caused by my thin understanding of the American sense of the word)
It has evolved a long way from its meaning in the old Leadbelly song "Scottsboro Boys", which tells the story of nine black teenagers accused of raping two white women. He says: "I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there – best stay woke, keep their eyes open."
It has become a word associated with the MAGA conservative wing in the USA, used as an insult towards liberals.
An outsider like me walks into a minefield; these sorts of words have acquired a particular meaning in America, that is not properly understood by people who live elsewhere, and in less polarized societies.
For myself only, I have come around to using the word woke in the sense that British journalist Steven Poole says is used to mock "over-righteous liberalism". To me "woke – like its cousin cancelled – bespeaks political correctness gone awry"*
Without wishing to cause offence to anyone, I am unapologetic about what I think the woke movement has in reality become in the first quarter of the 21st century.
But it is just my own opinion. It is obviously open to discussion. I never deliberately set out to offend anyone.
Extracts below from the wiki article:
Woke (/ˈwoʊk/ WOHK) is an English adjective meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination" that originated in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexism, and has also been used as shorthand for American Left ideas involving identity politics and social justice, such as the notion of white privilege and slavery reparations for African Americans.
The phrase stay woke had emerged in AAVE by the 1930s, in some contexts referring to an awareness of the social and political issues affecting African Americans. The phrase was uttered in a recording by Lead Belly and later by Erykah Badu. Following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, the phrase was popularised by Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists seeking to raise awareness about police shootings of African Americans. After seeing use on Black Twitter, the term woke became an Internet meme and was increasingly used by white people, often to signal their support for BLM, which some commentators have criticised as cultural appropriation. Mainly associated with the millennial generation, the term spread internationally and was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017.
The terms woke capitalism and woke-washing have arisen to describe companies who signal support for progressive causes as a substitute for genuine reform. By 2020, parts of the political center and right wing in several Western countries were using the term woke, often in an ironic way, as an insult for various progressive or leftist movements and ideologies perceived as overzealous, performative, or insincere. In turn, some commentators came to consider it an offensive term with negative associations to those who promote political ideas involving identity and race. By 2021, woke had become used almost exclusively as a pejorative, with most prominent usages of the word taking place in a disparaging context.
… Broadening usage
While there is no single agreed-upon definition of woke, it came to be largely associated with ideas that involve identity and race and which are promoted by progressives, such as the notion of white privilege or slavery reparations for African Americans. Vox's Aja Romano writes that woke evolved into a "single-word summation of leftist political ideology, centered on social justice politics and critical race theory".
… The term increasingly came to be identified with members of the millennial generation. In May 2016, MTV News identified woke as being among ten words teenagers "should know in 2016". The American Dialect Society voted woke the slang word of the year in 2017. In the same year, the term was included as an entry in Oxford English Dictionary.
… Journalist Amanda Hess says social media accelerated the word's cultural appropriation, writing, "The conundrum is built in. When white people aspire to get points for consciousness, they walk right into the cross hairs between allyship and appropriation." Hess calls woke "a back-pat from the left, a way of affirming the sensitive".
… While the term woke initially pertained to issues of racial prejudice and discrimination impacting African Americans, it was appropriated by other activist groups with different causes. Abas Mirzaei, a senior lecturer in branding at Macquarie University says that the term "has been cynically applied to everything from soft drink to razors".
…Among American conservatives, woke has come to be used primarily as an insult. In this pejorative sense, woke means "following an intolerant and moralising ideology.” British journalist Steven Poole comments that the term is used to mock "over-righteous liberalism". Romano says that on the American right, "'woke' – like its cousin 'canceled' – bespeaks 'political correctness' gone awry"*
Opponents of progressive social movements often use the term mockingly or sarcastically, implying that "wokeness" is an insincere form of performative activism. Such critics often believe that movements such as Black Lives Matter exaggerate the extent of social problems. Linguist and social critic John McWhorter argues that the history of woke is similar to that of politically correct, another term once used self-descriptively by the left which was appropriated by the right as an insult, in a process similar to the euphemism treadmill.
Read full article: Wiki Woke
(I apologise again for offence caused by my thin understanding of the American sense of the word)
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